Ok, so there’s this Psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Breggin, and well he is a sort of a radical. He has been called The Conscience of Psychiatry. What I’m getting at here is that this guy is pretty much anti-meds when it comes to depression. I’ve always thought that Psychiatry was only a step or two from the dark ages, so I’m interested in what this guy has to say. It seems he is pretty skeptical of most types of Psych meds including benzos, stimulants, and anti-psychotics. There is some really interesting stuff on his site regarding cases of malpractice and horrible reactions to and side effects from medications.
Now I’m not saying the guy is right on everything. Just that he’s got an interesting take on things, and he’s definitely right about some of it. I think medications, and possibly even ECT, have their place, but they are way over-prescribed. Psych-meds can be a damn scary thing. You ever see somebody with a bad case of Tardive Dyskinesia? Would you be comfortable taking a drug knowing that that is a possible permanent side effect? Well hells bells, neither would I.
Breggin is really down on the way kids are being drugged for ADHD and such. And I don’t blame him one bit. I think it’s a real tragedy what Psychiatrists are doing to our kids these days. His testimonial was instrumental in a case in Canada where Prozac was blamed for a teen spontaneously stabbing and murdering his friend. The argument was that the Prozac made the kid manic and impulsive. I have direct experience with this, I was manic for a long time, before my Effexor dosage was finally lowered, at which point I became more stable and have never been manic since. Nor was I ever manic prior to taking the Effexor.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there are near enough doctors like Dr. Breggin. We need many more who are willing to be honest about the state of Psychiatry, and willing to speak out about it. I’m gradually starting to discover others though and will try to write about them more in the future. There is an interesting blog called The Carlat Psychiatry Blog. It is written by a well-respected Psychiatrist, who is pro-medicine, but is highly critical of Psychiatry’s relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.
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